Voyager - the MagellanMusic Newsletter - Summer 2012

2012 has been an interesting year so far. There have been great new music releases, a few good movies, a revival of reading thanks to Kindle, some exciting sports events, even signs of economic survival, but unfortunately it is also an election year. Today more than ever it gives a feeling of dread, comparable to someone inflicting rancid flatulence in a crowded elevator. We are hearing the same old drivel from political campaigns jammed with promises never to be kept, both the media and internet so drenched with propaganda that Hitler would be proud. Most shocking is the masses still go on believing it. They stick to their political party little different than religion even if the political objective is openly destructive to their lives, against the most basic principles that made America a nation. It has become a recognizable societal psychosis. Realities are replaced with delusions, truth is replaced with opinion, the populace endlessly brow-beaten, programmed into a cowed submission, a subliminal desperation - the masses willing to believe anything for any sense of hope. Nevermind the world falling down around them, as long as people believe in their favorite political rhetoric good WILL prevail. So in response MagellanMusic will soon be releasing a specially made video featuring the song “I Can’t Afford To Puke”. Since it deals with social stigma and political depravity the title should speak for itself. It is rumored that the video explicitly examples the attitude of America toward today’s Establishment, so I’m sure we’ll know soon. We will inform everyone when “I Can’t Afford To Puke” is ready to view. Very notable news is Amazon.com has finally put all MagellanMusic titles in one place. In the past, two albums were listed as Magellan while the others were MagellanMusic, but the latest album ‘Whispers’ was difficult to find. Even the MagellanMusic distributor was puzzled. We aren’t sure yet how it was fixed, but we are extremely happy that it is. Mostly because Amazon.com is one of the largest online sellers in the world. Besides new and used discs at great prices, their download program is easy to use, sound quality is excellent, your credit card number is not automatically charged as on iTunes, and there is a matching program called Cloud Player that saves all downloaded songs. Gone are the days of accidentally deleting an entire file and having to buy it again. Here is the link to all MagellanMusic titles on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords;=magellanmusic NEWSFLASH: Vladimir Zsoerbin has sadly been diagnosed with depression. When he hadn’t eaten for 2 months while watching the same episode of “Beanie & Cecil” we asked what was happening. He responded, “I just want you to know that I’m feeling depressingly depressed.” We asked why. “Here I am, brain the size of Uranus, living on a planet full of bi-pedal humans who don’t like my 3 arms and 1 leg. Oh god I’m feeling so despicably depressed!” We asked Vlad what he will do. “I’m not sure. I have a terrible pain in all the diodes down my left side. I feel disgustingly depressed!” Should we call Dr. Albert Hofmann? “It won’t help. I’m feeling too disparagingly depressed.” The Voyager staff instructed Vlad to ingest an entire page of blotter acid and call us in the morning. “That already makes me feel more disgruntlingly depressed!” We haven’t heard from Vlad since. A particularly interesting item is MagellanMusic is now in the process of registering their name as a trademark. When trying to load songs onto the music website called SoundCloud they were blocked several times on the premise of potential copyright infringement. It was soon learned that not one, but two others were using the name MagellanMusic as artist titles. They were not published artists, just amateurs who posted their music on that site since anyone can do so whether legally published or not. This is unfortunate. SoundCloud is a rare site that features full length songs rather than sound clips, a nice advantage to those who sell their wares since new listeners can get full impact of the artist. Whether or not the band name is ever trademarked, SoundCloud should acknowledge professional ethics by inhibiting use of the word MagellanMusic, or any legitimate artist, by others. In the meantime, for those who would enjoy hearing MagellanMusic songs in their entirety go to www.soundcloud.com/magellanmusic-1. Sound quality is terrific and the controls are easy to use. We will inform everyone how this story unfolds.A surprising update is the Csekert Zrt bicycle company in Hungary has posted the MagellanMusic video “Clouds” on their website. This was baffling at first, no apparent connection between an American rock band and a Hungarian bicycle manufacturer, until we learned that their top-of-the-line models are called Magellan. They are not road-ready 10-speeds, but the off-road competition style. They can be viewed at Magellan.hu. The Voyager staff also learned that Magellan bikes are amongst the sturdiest built anywhere. The awards and competition wins are numerous, not even a full listing is posted on their website. MagellanMusic is honored to be featured by Csekert, the spirit of ‘freedom’ on bikes a simple but exquisite feeling that is accurate and true. MagellanMusic hopes that “Clouds” will help Csekert Zrt express that essence. NEWSFLASH: Voyager has learned that AAA Marrz will soon be publishing a new book called “Poopology 101”. It is said to be a collegiate study and spiritual assessment of defecation. AAA is a well known master of the subject, once claiming that he named a rare Platypus Poopus Maximus in honor of it. No word yet on how many of the 200 page books will be printed for the first pressing. Probably no more than 10 since many believe they will be sold to Mexican authorities because of their serious toilet paper shortage. We will keep you informed! Another note of interest, MagellanMusic will be posting their story on Wikipedia sometime in the near future. There is a criteria that must be followed for any submission, which is somewhat difficult for a novice to do, so it’s possible an outline will be submitted to a Wikipedia staff writer instead of Voyager attempting it. It is clear that many articles aren’t worthy, so with MagellanMusic a functioning independent band 20 years before the word ‘independent’ was used in the music business they deserve it as much as anyone else. Let us wish the band good luck! Newsflash: Derek Story has absolutely announced that he is going to do absolutely nothing for the entire month of July. It is suspected he absolutely fears Republicans will absolutely demand he expend absolute energy campaigning absolutely free of charge. When the Voyager staff absolutely asked Derek for more absolute details he said, “I will absolutely not attempt to sell absolute Republican political dog sh*t.” When we absolutely pressed him for still more absolute details Derek absolutely did not respond. We will absolutely report any absolute developments. On a serious note, MagellanMusic is preparing an unexpected video that deals with a surgery Per Jensen endured in 2002 due to recurring aneurysms. It was actually the third surgery in a long series of afflictions that had begun with a ruptured aneurysm in the year 2000. It was such a complex surgery (and such an extraordinary event) that a short segment of it was filmed for education purposes. The surgeon in charge was Dr. Eric Nussbaum, the neurovascular professor at the University of Minnesota Medical Center. Posting this short film has been suggested many times, but due to its graphic nature Per didn’t feel it appropriate to offend anyone even if it’s a learning experience. However, far too few understand how often aneurysms kill without warning. Perhaps the stunning visuals of such work necessary to stay alive will encourage more to seek preventative efforts. We will inform everyone when it is posted. NEWSFLASH: We have learned that The Ig has developed a strange spelling problem. We asked if he understood what was happening. “iim nAat shuR, man. iTs rilly weeRd, man.” Was it possible he had ingested too much LSD? “iM nAht shUre, maN. It’’s rIllY wEerD, man.” Would he consider less LSD and more Magic Mushroom Tea? “I’mm knoTt sHir, mAn. itS riLlie wEaRd, maNn.” May we suggest Dr. Groove for consultation? “LiKe, I kAn dIg iTt, mAN! soUnZ grUUvie, maN! BuTt i’M nAaT shUR, manN. FeAls wEaIrD, mAnn.” The Voyager staff will inform you as soon as we know more, man.More good news for the music scene are several new CD releases recently. One of particular note is Janis Joplin “Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968”. That venue was in the process of changing into the Fillmore West, obviously a very popular concert hall, and had the unusual feature of a house sound man who also recorded many other performances there. His name was Owsley Stanley, also known as the ‘Bear’, a well known personage in the now legendary counter-culture of San Francisco at the time. But he never released those recordings. Unfortunately he died last year, and with the appearance of this album by Janis it’s possible his family is preparing to release a series of Bear’s recordings. Let us hope this is true. Another is “Beyond Man and Machine” by RPWL. It is their first studio effort since 2008, and has the unusual facet of being their first concept album. Various reviewers have slight differences of opinion, but notably is comparison to the German philosopher Nietzsche. His challenges of moral ethics resound to this day, which gives the impression that “Beyond Man and Machine” is essentially a morality play. Perfect timing amidst the rabid lunacy of current affairs. But beyond interpretation of their message, RPWL is at their best. This album is full of melody and power, all tempered with terrific arrangement and subtleties. “Beyond Man and Machine” is a keeper. A surprise discovery was not one, but two little known albums by the famed Chad & Jeremy. They are best known for the classic “A Summer Song” frequently heard on Oldies stations, but these two albums are so different that they aren’t recognizable as Chad & Jeremy. One is called “Of Cabbages and Kings” released in 1967, the other called “Ark” released in 1968. They reflect the progressive psychedelic era so well that they sound like timeless classics at the level of Jefferson Airplane, the Doors, and many others. All the more astonishing. Fans of psychedelia will be far more than happy to add these to their collection. Another is a virtually unknown group called Chocolate Watchband. “Chocolate what?” you ask. They are classified a ‘garage band’, but they never had the luck of a hit song or a big break. All they needed was development. They might have been a major force in the San Francisco scene where they were from. Still, Chocolate Watchband released 3 albums in the late 1960’s, and their “Chocolate Watchband’s Greatest Hits” collection is a chronicle of how no-name artists are sometimes better than the big names. Then we have the strange coincidence of two bands called Kaleidoscope. One from Britain, the other from Texas. Both were part of the late 60’s psychedelia phenomenon, both released 4 albums, were at their peak between 1967 and 1970, but the bands were distinctly different. The U.S. Kaleidoscope was somewhat eclectic, covered everything from psyche rock to folk to Mediterranean. The U.K. Kaleidoscope was more the classic style of psychedelia. But the important thing is both were amazingly good. They should have received much wider notoriety than today’s footnote of rare, unknown bands. So if you are intrigued, the best CD choice for the U.S. Kaleidoscope is called “Beacon from Mars & Other Psychedelic Side Trips”, the U.K. Kaleidoscope title “Faintly Blowing” with bonus tracks is definitely their most choice pick. But let’s not forget about this little known band called MagellanMusic. (ahem) Since “Whispers” was produced with summer in mind, that album and all others can be found at www.cdbaby.com/all/magellanmusic. Or at Amazon it is http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_11?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords;=magellanmusic&sprefix;=MagellanMus%2Cpopular%2C424. "This is a test of the new emergency broadcast system. If you hear strange, ringing tones please grab the first available bong with a fresh screen. Immediately fill it with available Mary Wanna. Grab the first available lighter. Put bowl to mouth. Light lighter. Apply to Mary. SUCK! If you continue to hear strange, ringing tones please re-apply this application. If it persists, prepare a large mug of PeyoTEA per the 'Hippie Handbook' page 47. Re-apply the Mary Wanna procedure. Drink PeyoTEA. Re-apply the Mary Wanna procedure. Then grab the nearest Pink Floyd album. Play it. Re-apply the Mary Wanna procedure. If you continue to hear strange, ringing tones re-apply the PeyoTEA procedure. Twice. Re-apply the Mary Wanna procedure. If you continue to hear strange, ringing tones you probably won't give a sh*t since you are amazingly stoned by now. Thank you for testing the new emergency broadcast system."